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Synopsis

The Son Rises

Thirteen years ago, Cherica Adams was gunned down on a desolate Charlotte, NC road. Eight months pregnant at the time, she eventually died from gunshot wounds, but her son, Chancellor, miraculously survived. Shortly after the incident, investigators concluded that Adams' boyfriend -- Chancellor's father -- was the mastermind behind the shooting. That man was former Carolina Panthers wideout Rae Carruth, who is currently serving 18 to 24 years at a North Carolina correctional facility. Tragically, Chancellor was left with cerebral palsy as a result of being deprived of oxygen in utero as his mother lay dying. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated collaboration, host Bryant Gumbel goes to Charlotte to revisit the tragedy that changed so many lives and provides a gripping account of how a young survivor has beaten the odds.

Think About Them

More than five years into the concussion crisis that plagues the American football landscape, everyone agrees on one thing: Fewer hits to the head is better for the health of the players. The NFL has drastically reduced the amount of time spent hitting in practice, intending to reduce collisions that can have lifetime impact; so has Pop Warner youth football, as well as many high schools nationwide. But one major sports organization has not: The NCAA. REAL SPORTS correspondent Bernard Goldberg uncovers troubling new research showing how the amount of brain trauma suffered in college is rewiring the brains of some of these student-athletes, making it difficult to fulfill their primary role as a student. In this expanded segment, he asks the question: What does this mean for tens of thousands of student-athletes playing college football today?

Blue Star Fallen

In May 2009, during a routine rookie mini-camp, the Dallas Cowboys' indoor practice facility in Irving, Tex. collapsed during a wind and rain storm, leaving special teams coach Joe DeCamillis with a broken neck and scout Rich Behm paralyzed from the waist down. REAL SPORTS' Jan. 2010 examination of the incident, which was nominated for an Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism, presented accounts from DeCamillis and Behm, an engineer who worked on the facility, and the president of the company that built the faulty structure. Now, correspondent Frank Deford returns to Texas to see what has happened to the people who were injured and to the company.